Name: Gus (he has long since stopped using any other names and likely forgotten his last name entirely) Gender: Male, straight Age/DOB: 35 at Events Origin: Rookery Earth, local to New Mexico, at Black Mesa Family: None known, though for whatever reason, Virva Novak has taken a liking to him. Maybe it's because his 'power' is green like hers, and she's excited about that. Now, whether there might be ... results, from this? >_> Maaaaybe. Melissa, stop cackling. (( In RY3 they actually solve Melissa's problem for her and their daughter is Gertrude )) Other: Yeah he ... was on site when the place was not only ground zero for their Resonance Cascade, but subsequently for the low-yield nuke that got dropped on it. Any kids he will have are clearly going to inherit his weird new powers. Height: 6'0" Weight: around 230, though over time he has become less flabby and far more muscular Hair: medium brown, but hardly anyone has ever seen it. He keeps it shaved, he's got about as much scalp stubble as is on his chin, and it does tend toward pattern baldness. Gus always wears head protection, he's no fool. Eyes: Light blue, close set and a little squinty, he's long since gotten used to the lower field of vision with the helmet or hard hat he typically dons, and is always looking around for dangers in any direction Appearance: fair skinned with quite a bit of stubble, body hair, and minor scars; he has a very ... um, 'big boned' build. In times past he was rather overweight, but these days he can certainly keep up with much younger men. Not remarkably athletic, but the years of living on site have made him more buff and less apt to dine on donuts. He has a big collection of those green jumpsuits or orange flight suits, preferring the green, and has also, to his somewhat guilty shame, swiped camo outfits off of the dead HECU soldiers that were sent in to kill folks. He loves those steel-toed boots, and has a collection of helmets, hard hats, baseball caps, and even an HEV suit just in case it's needed. Icarus Processing: None, and because of the specific situation that he gained any abilities, using it on him might very well be deadly. |
Image Credits: Paragon / Valve |
Genetic Abilities: Gus used to be a normal everyday forklift driver. When the Resonance Cascade happened, he was tossed into a pool of that glowing radioactive sludge while trying to clean it up. This had effects. But that wasn't the end of them. Gus is enabled with 'radioactive' powers, he can withstand very high doses of basically any form of normally deadly radiation and be unscathed. He can soak up the deadly stuff into his body and let it just sit there, until it's necessary to use it to attack something else - usually headcrabs, barnacles, or other such interdimensional invaders. This comes in the form of a kind of bubbly-burbling mass from his hands (shown with his dragon), which he can hurl as a sort of 'snot bomb' that sticks to its target and does all the radiation damage that didn't occur on him. This usually kills small animals very quickly, and can poison larger ones with one dose, and he can repeatedly use this ability until his store of energy is depleted, usually about a dozen hits or half that if he uses other abilities. He has faced down a Garg - and with some help from a couple other locals, defeated it! This radiation is enough to weaken a creature's carapace or defenses, slow it down a bit, and cause it to behave sickly, so other more direct attacks can then penetrate or be easier to target. Additionally, shown in Skills, he can use this radiation to heal those nearby. This is partly why Virva thinks he's just the bees knees - she learned how to use this sort of thing herself! While the 'healing' is subtle, and kind of smells weird, those within about 5 meters of Gus will quickly heal any small cuts or bruises, and begin healing any larger damage they've incurred. To the point, he can sit with someone who's been crushed or shot, or taken what might normally be considered 'deadly' damage, and heal them back to their normal self within about half an hour. This power drains him much more than the attack does, but he can also use it in a more focused manner than the attack, concentrating on a single person or small group, and adjusting the amount of healing 'per dose' at will. Too quickly, this dose can actually start harming someone - so the moment they're 'feeling great' they need to get out of his presece so they don't then get radiation poisoning. Gus does not have any other form of Vortal power, but he does seem to be able to detect any form of radioactive substances, so he can home in on, say, leaking waste barrels, missiles with radioactive payloads, and even X-ray machines. Though Lane went through and cleaned up most of the nasty crap in the facility, Gus has moved any of the spare barrels and bins that have 'extra' goop in them, for his personal 'refill'. Since Lane now knows that this is a thing, he's told others to keep an eye out for those desert dumping grounds that were used in the 50s and 60s - the Mojave Congolmerate is just itching to have Gus on staff. (Though given how long he's been working and residing in Black Mesa, the thought of being out in the open like that gives him the willies) | |
Skills or Profession: Gus has a high school education, and then a year of trade schooling for construction and safety. He had been on staff basically all his adult life, so he knows the inside of Black Mesa like the back of his hand, and can easily navigate the place even after its destruction. He knows how to use equipment, from forklifts and trams, to larger construction tools, big rigs, vehicles like dump trucks, and anything found on a work site. He has a strong mechanical aptitude, and will keep those pieces of equipment in good working condition provided he's got the tools to do it. He will eagerly instruct anyone on the use of the equipment around Black Mesa, but he insists that they go through the entire safety process first - he was voted onto that promotional packet and poster for a reason, after all, so he'll be damned if someone breaks those tools or loses a limb on his watch. _ |
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Personality: Gus was featured in Black Mesa's promotional materials and safety manual! Go Gus! Gus is a safety minded guy, diligent, and basically 'the sane one' of any given batch of Black Mesa employees. He's never held back when he sees a job to be done, and particularly now that he's got super powers from it, will volunteer to go in and clean the way for anyone else needing to use the area. That said, even though he's helpful and punctual, he is grumpy as fuck, and would have preferred the planet remain uninvaded? | |
Events or History: A New Mexico local, Gus was a C-student and knew that his prospects of getting any kind of high-falootin job or anything requiring a face people wanted to look at were slim. But he knew machines, and he liked to work with construction gear, so fresh out of high school he attended a trade school program that trained him in all of their use. And basically right out of that, he was nabbed by Black Mesa. Several of his classmates also got jobs there, but eventually moved on to other locations. But Gus remained and gained tenure as a safety icon, the staff appreciated his work tangibly. While he knew that there were plenty of mistakes made, no one blamed him for any of those spills or accidents. He was there to fix them. If he'd had his way, every single one of those idiot scientists in their labs and weapons design tunnels would have to go through the same rigorous safety training that the everyday schlubs like him did. Maybe there wouldn't have been so much junk to clean up, then. When the Resonance Cascade occurred on Rookery Earth, and allowed the original Xenian invasion, Gus was working in a deeper portion of the facility, putting away some of those older barrels into a concrete bunker designed for such use. It would be some 8 months before he got back to the top of the facility, digging carefully through the rubble, making his way up one collapsed tunnel at a time. While he was never going to be a 'lean mean' machine... he definitely appreciated the fact that headcrabs were easy to catch, and yeah he was fat as hell but he's a guy who surprised himself with how fit he'd gotten by that time. The nuke that went off topside had hardly affected him - but by the time he was able to wander the surface area of the facility, he was already glowing. He knew he couldn't leave, the radios that worked told of 'anything that moves' being a target. So he went back down and fixed up room after room, a fact which he was a little miffed about when those Lane guys - weren't there only one of them back in the day? - started cleaning up and replacing the whole Mesa. But... that is what it is. Now there are people again. He had not seen any Combine soldiers or other invasive action though he knew that they'd occurred, again because he was able to listen in on some of those fancy-dancy radio units in one of the science labs. With the Rookery in full swing though, and some of the 'smaller' sized dragons coming along from a variety of worlds, he and LemonLime are enjoying their new duties. Though he is not generally out in the field, he takes in almost all the supplies and larger equipment that others have gathered from the surroundings, to get them situated in their proper places on site. |
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Dragon Name: LemonLime, "LL" 'Elle' |
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